kurosawa87- The thought of MikiAi...I always found it interesting as well, though not as addictive as TakaGaki or Kameshige
Thanks for commenting!~
arisa03- All I can say is...I love me some Rokkies action
Hope this was soon enough heh! Thanks for commenting
rndmnwierd- I shall make you wait forever!~ Mwahaha! That would be awful wouldn't it?
Sorry for the long wait
Thanks for the comment too!
risa_ai- Ai can "ai" whoever she wants
Lame joke heh. Thanks for the comment <3
And thanks again for the thank yous!~ (^ 3 ^)
Ah~hhhhh so sleepy~ (> 3 <) Zzz~ This chapter is kind of a longer chapter since I had so much I wanted to add, but then again, it's sort of a filler chapter
HOPE YOU ENJOY IT ANYWAYS! \( ^ - ^ )/ AND I didn't take that long, so that's a bonus, but now I have midterms coming up, so please be patient my lovely friends!
He~eeeere we go! Pon!~
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Chapter Four
"Please enjoy your meal!” Makoto exclaimed as she finished serving the remaining customers at the moment. Seeing that the restaurant’s regular lunch rush had just finished, the rest of the restaurant remained relatively empty except for one or two customers that remained to eat their lunch in peace. Just as the girl began to return into the kitchen for her own lunch, the small wind chime hanging on the door entrance rang and entered two well dressed women. The smaller girl, clearly not of Japanese descent, curiously observed the restaurant interior as the more confident woman sauntered to the nearest window seat.
Never having seen such a woman of high social status, Makoto precariously walked up to the two. There wouldn’t be any need for bowing would there? “Umm…welcome to Lucky 7. Please, sit anywhere you’d like.”
Catching a stealthy glance from Ai, LinLin reached into her personal handbag, pulling out a small packet of wet toilettes, and began to wipe down every inch of the table and benches. Deeming that the furniture was now clean, the wealthy girl sat down, followed by a smiley LinLin who sat on the opposite side of the table.
”Strange…” “My name is Makoto and I’ll be your waitress. What would the two of you like to drink? May I suggest-”
“Just make one of every dish you have in the restaurant,” Ai interrupted curtly, glancing up at the now incredulous looking woman with a self-assured smile. “Especially the famous monjayaki.”
Quickly nodding her head, the waitress rushed into the kitchen where Yossie and Risa were cooking lunch for everyone, whilst Rika and Konno were off to the side chopping vegetables, as well as other food preparations. "Minna!" Makoto shouted, clumsily stumbling in as she hastily wrote down the expensive order. "Make one of every dish we have in the restaurant! Especially the famous monjayaki!"
Glancing up in skepticism, co-boss Hitomi’s eyebrows furrowed as she plated the strip of freshly fried tonkatsu. "What kind of customer is being such an idiot?"
Makoto huddled in between the two cooks, gesturing for the both of them to lean in closer. As they did, she quietly whispered, her voice filled with much enthusiasm, "A super refined customer! I've never seen such expensive looking clothes before!"
"The glittery sparkling kind?" Risa pondered aloud as the events from the previous day flowed into her mind.
"Doesn't matter!" Rika shouted as she and Konno began to haul multiple ingredients out of the cooler. "Both of you need to concentrate on cooking. KonKon, get ready to help Mako-chan serve. We're going to make this an unforgettable meal!"
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"Maybe I should go with the omurice. It's the best thing I've had so far...No, this is too ordinary for Fujimoto-san. I need something special. Something with a unique spin to it..." With each and every dish that the two servers brought out, Ai continued to find some sort of unpalatable thought for each one. After taking a single generously-sized taste of each dish, the wealthy woman passed the dishes towards a hungry LinLin, who seemed to be floating in cloud nine as she scarfed down at least half of each dish. Feeling disheartened with every plate that was being delivered out, Ai finally called for the two. "Check please."
"But our chef was about to come out to cook her monjayaki..."
LinLin's eyes brightened up as she looked up from the soft balls of takoyaki. "Ai-chan! I love monjayaki! Let’s at least try it! Ple~eeease?”
Seeing the younger girl's pout mixed with her deadly puppy dog expression, the wealthy girl finally agreed, nodding her head in approval as Makoto hurried towards the kitchen to grab their "famous" chef, leaving Asami to clear off cluttered table in order to make room for the larger pan to cook the dish. As a small cart filled with multiple ingredient filled bowls came into the view, the wealthy girl narrowed her eyes at the appearance of the chef.
“Damn you Kami-sama…”At the same instant, the monjayaki expert looked up and her cheery expression fell flat.
“It’s YOU!?” the two shouted in unison.
Both LinLin and Asami paused their action, glancing at the two before glancing at each other. “Umm…you two know each other?” the chubby cheeked girl questioned cautiously, sensing the sudden negative aura in the room.
“We don’t!” the bean and heiress snorted in harmony, their glares lingering on each other a few seconds before turning away.
Near silence filled the room. With a weak chuckle, Asami quickly bowed her head to the customers before wordlessly shuffling back into the kitchen with an armful of empty plates. Slowly, Ai peeked up at the monjayaki chef, who was already silently beginning to prepare the monjayaki. Ignoring LinLin’s rapid hand gestures and mouthing, the heiress finally felt the courage to speak up.
“You’re the monjayaki chef?”
“The
BEST monjayaki chef. Name’s Niigaki Risa,” the bean corrected defensively as she heated up the heavy portable grill. “Got a problem with that?”
Gritting her teeth, the wealthy woman opened her mouth to retort back when LinLin cut her off. “Of course not! But if you are what you claim, you better prove it to me! I’ve tasted almost everything in the world you know!”
Chuckling at the girl’s spunky attitude, the bean nodded, her lips curving into a small smile. As she began mixing the batter with the chopped cabbage, LinLin began to question the bean’s skills. Rather, her curiosity caused her to ask question after question. Happily, Risa answered each and every inquiry without any hesitation. On the other hand, Ai could only sit with her arms across her chest, watching the two interact as if they were old friends that were catching up. Or rather, old friends that were sharing food recipes. Her previous indifferent expression twisted into a scowl as she observed her Chinese friend’s friendliness make the bean warm up. With the annoyed feeling of being ignored, Ai focused her attention on the cooking. At first, everything seemed typical, but as Risa began to pour the cabbage in the grill, the heiress couldn’t help but speak up.
“Why aren’t you making a bank? Every time I’ve had monjayaki, the chef always makes a bank for the rest of the batter. Why isn’t there a bank?”
“This is Niigaki style monjayaki. There is no bank because there isn’t a need for one. If you make a bank when you cook the monjayaki, the juices won’t spread and there won’t be any crunchy bits. Without the bank, there’s more crunchy bits and the monjayaki will taste
so much better. That’s why Niigaki style monjayaki is so delicious as compared to everyone else’s”
Watching Risa finish her speech with a proud smile, LinLin immediately applauded the chef. “Kakkoii! I never knew you could do that with monjayaki! How else do you make it tasty??”
Once again focusing her attention on the Chinese girl, Risa began to explain and show the steps of making Niigaki style monjayaki, from how to add the cabbage and batter to the pan to her personal preferred toppings. A bored Takahashi Ai glanced around the restaurant, though there was nothing she found that was even moderately interesting. Turning her attention back to the chef, the heiress couldn’t help but notice the top section of Risa’s uniform was unbuttoned, exposing a small section her collar bone.
“What the…she needs to fix that…” As the bean slightly bent over a little to evenly spread the strands of rice crackers, a flash of black quickly came in and out of her sight. The small peek was all that was needed as Ai’s cheeks began to warm up. With an astounded gaze, her soft brown eyes slowly began to trail down from the bean’s collar bone to small opening of her chef jacket. Not even realizing it, the heiress was leaning closer and closer as an attempt to feed her unexpected curiosity. Ai, who was nearly lying on the table, shifted her eyes downwards as she caught a glimpse of her target. Her suddenly dry mouth split apart as her pink tongue rolled over her top lip, never taking her eyes off the "prize".
“Nee Aichan? What are you doing?“
Jumping back in surprise, the heiress let out the breathe that she didn’t even realize she was holding. As she wordlessly nodded, her eyes were glued to her sparkling strappy heels, refusing to look up at either of the women. “I-I was-“
“You were licking your lips Aichan. Something delicious in mind?” LinLin questioned with a small smirk, her eyes shining with a knowing look.. The red tint on the oldest woman’s cheeks darkened a perplexed Risa curiously glanced back and forth between the two best friends.
“Uhh...yeah. I was thinking about…watermelons…?”
Knowing that the mention of watermelon would excite LinLin, Ai shyly glanced upwards. Surely enough, her friend’s eyes reverted to its normal glow at the thought of the sweet fruit. Yet, what nearly caused the girl to let out another one of her infamous man screams was the intent gaze Risa held. The moment their eyes locked, Ai glanced down at the monjayaki once more. Secretly peeking up, the heiress once again slightly tilted her head upwards, only to feel her cheeks warm up for the umpteenth time as Risa button the upper most part of her jacket. Locking eyes again, Ai uncomfortably shifted around her seat.
"You're buttoning your jacket," she pointed out dryly. A moment of silence passed before she realized what she said. "I mean, is the food done?"
“It’s been done. LinLin here has been trying to get your attention for while.” Hearing the bean’s statement, the heiress felt her composure sink once again as her embarrassing actions came to mind.
”What are you thinking Ai?”“Where are the spatulas?” Ai finally asked, cutting in midway through LinLin’s rant about her beloved fruit. “I have things I need to do.”
Rolling her eyes, Risa tapped her well-manicured index finger on the pair of hard plastic chopsticks in front of Ai. “I already told LinLin, but I guess I’ll have to repeat for you ojou-san. With Niigaki style monjayaki, you use chopsticks. Both of you need to hurry up and start eating or else it’ll get cold.”
With a quick "Itadikimasu", both LinLin and Ai used their chopsticks to get a hold of the still sizzling monjayaki. Taking in the warm mixture, the heiress’s eyes slowly widened as she tasted the bean's creation. Surprisingly, she had no negative comments.
"Oishii~" LinLin exclaimed before grasping a second piece. "You are
definitely the best monjayaki chef in the world Niigaki-san!"
"Arigatou LinLin!"
Just as Risa turned around to bring the dirty dishes to the back, a small hold on the bottom of her jacket prevented her from even moving a step. "Wait,” came Ai's voice as she glanced past the girl and focused her attention on the suddenly interesting looking cash register.
"Her monjayaki really wasn't too bad...what should I do? I can't lower my head to someone like her." Suddenly, an idea came to mind as Ai's lips slowly curved into a smirk.
"If I pay her to teach me how to make this monjayaki, then it doesn't really count as me lowering my head."Seeing that Ai had nothing to say, the monjayaki chef attempted to return to making her own lunch when the same grasp pulled her back, nearly causing the chef to drop and break all the clay dishes. Before she could even turn around the scold the older woman, Ai quickly stood from her seat, her eyes filled with determination. "I want to rent this place and learn how to make this monjayaki from you."
"HAA!?" Risa shouted incredulously as she turned around to face the girl, setting, rather almost slamming, the tainted dishes on the table once more. "Rent this place? Learn to make monjayaki?"
"I'll pay whatever tuition you set."
"You-"
"No way." came Yossie's voice as she not so coincidentally wandered into sight and walked up to the group. "Never."
With a relieved smile, the bean grinned, pumping her fists in the air. "Yatta! Yoshizawa-san has voiced her decision! Never means the same as not possible ojou-san!" Chuckling at the girl's fallen expression, Risa's smile only widened.
Wordlessly, the taller woman slowly advanced towards Ai until she was directly in front of the woman, looking down at her with hardened eyes. "But..."
"Ehh? There's a but!?"
Ignoring her worker's confused voice, Yossie lightly grinned at the puzzled heiress. "If you come during the afternoon break tomorrow, then we can discuss it then."
"Yoshizawa-san!" Risa squealed as she shook her boss's shoulder. "It's her! She…she's the one who destroyed my bike and ruined your mood that day!"
"Really? Then this shouldn't be allowed!" the androgynous woman shouted, accusingly pointing her index finger at the heiress. "You'll have to pay double for your tuition!"
Flashing one of her confident one hundred watt smiles, Ai reached into her handbag and pulled out a neat stack of bills. "No problem,” the heiress grinned as she handed the bills to an equally happy Yoshizawa Hitomi. "What time tomorrow?"
"Huh? Hontou ni!?!"
"Tomorrow afternoon from three to five." Yossie replied, taking the wealthy woman's hands into her own to shake it.
"I...Uso!"
"Alright. Three to five it is."
"Ehh?! O-ojou-san...!"
"Name?"
"Takahashi Ai desu."
"Chotto matte!" Risa finally exclaimed, ripping apart the linked hands by force. Huffing out of frustration, the bean puffed her cheeks as she glanced between her current least favorite people. "Why is no one listening to me? Shouldn't I have a say in this?!"
Rolling her eyes at the bean, Ai nodded to Hitomi once more before heading towards the exit with an amused LinLin in tow.
"If you agree to this, I'll quit! I'll really quit Yoshizawa-san! No jokes! Seriously, I'll quit!!"
"Hey!" the head chef shouted to the heiress. As the wealthy woman awkwardly turned to the two restaurant workers, she felt relieved when a smile came in sight. A moment of silence passed before Hitomi continued gently, "Please wear something a little more casual tomorrow. Okay?"
With a determined nod, Ai turned towards the door once more. "Got it." was her only response before heading out the door, followed by LinLin who paid for the meal and waved good-bye to all the workers.
Risa glared at Ai's disappearing figure and once she was out of sight, the bean turned to her boss. "Gimme!~" she exclaimed, partially lunging for the stack of bills.
"Back off. Sheesh Gaki." Yossie stuck her tongue out at the fuming bean before heading back to the kitchen, already counting the large stack of money in her hands.
Now, Risa stood only in the dining room. Somewhere in between the entire dispute, the remaining customers had left their payment on the tables and scurried out the door. It wasn’t their fault. Who would want to stay to listen to a princess and monjayaki chef squabble? Shaking her head once more, Risa turned to the kitchen, her expression filled with uncertainty.
”What should I do…?”------------------------------------------------------------------
“She quit? She actually quit?” Takahashi Ai, clad in a plain blouse and boyish styled jeans, stared accusingly at the frightened duo, her expression filled with annoyance. “Why does it matter if she quits? Can’t the bosses make this “Niigaki style” monjayaki? Or maybe even the two of you? You all must have seen her make it on more than one occasion!”
“Well…” Makoto started, staring off into space. “You see, we’re not as passionate about it as Gaki-san.”
“In other words, Mako-chan always messes up the recipe and if she were actually cooking, she would just stare off into space with her mouth wide opened,” Asami snickered as she tilted her head towards said girl, who indeed had the same brief expression as her friend described.
“KonKon! It’s not just me! How about Yossie? She doesn’t have the patience! Just look at her you guys! That doesn’t even
look like monjayaki, especially with all that black coloring!”
The girl pointed her finger towards the cooking co-boss who was gently attempting to serve the unwilling customers their monjayaki. At least, it was suppose to be monjayaki. With the heat continuously switching from high to low, Yoshizawa Hitomi persistently flipped, stirred, and did any type of action when cooking the monjayaki, as opposed to the bean’s regular calm and patient method. Yoshizawa Hitomi was far from being patient.
“Shut the hell up Mako! Rika-chan’s not any better! She can’t even cook plain rice in a rice cooker! Whatever you do Takahashi, don’t let her teach you or you’ll be screwed for life.”
“Hey.” Rika frowned as she threw her partner a look of annoyance. “It’s not my fault. I do my share of the work and do most of the cutting. At least I’m not like KonKon here who just starts eating whatever she’s cooking. That’s why she and I are the official preparation duo of Lucky 7 after all. “
“Sumimasen Ishikawa-san! It’s just…the food looks so tasty and I-“
“Forget it KonKon,” Makoto patted her friend’s shoulder in support. “We’re just not natural monjayaki people. If you want a good monjayaki-sensei Takahashi-san, then you need to find Gaki-san.”
Seeing that she would find no luck with the current workers of Lucky 7, Ai finally turned to the others with a look of hope. Slightly nibbling her bottom lip, the heiress had to wonder. Is it honestly worth it to go through the trouble to find the bean when Yoshizawa could easily teach the recipe of something simple, such as omurice?
“Do you guys know where she’d be then?”
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“It’s so beautiful every day, it’s the season of beginnings…”How long had it been since she was last here? Almost a week now? During this entire mess in Yamaguchi, there was barely anytime to do anything fun. It was either cook for the customers, run errands, or sleep. That was all Risa could do for the past few months she’d been in Yamaguchi.
“I feel younger today than I’ll be any day in the future…”Ai slowly took a step closer to the slim figure, clearly recognizable as the bean. Who knew that within the smaller unknown urban areas of Yamaguchi there was such a peaceful location in existence? The heiress stood only a few feet away from Risa as she observed the girl in her natural ways. Clad in a short skirt and a spotted puffy sleeved blouse, the bean sat on the edge of a large rock, letting her shoeless feet dangle, barely touching the gently waves from below. Flat across her lap lay a cheap looking, though fully functional, electric keyboard. From where she was standing, Ai could see Risa’s slender fingers glide across the keyboard, hitting each note with grace, as well as power. Becoming curious, the wealthy heiress took a step closer, but froze in her spot as the bean completely stopped playing.
“I knew you’d come. Just stay what you need to say.”
”How did she know I would come?” a surprised Ai mused, staring at the sky as if it would give her answers. Regardless, the woman took another step closer, taking a deep breath before speaking. “I-“
Suddenly, the bean spun around, locking eye contact with the other woman. Without a second thought, Risa scrambled onto her feet, though nearly dropping her keyboard into the lake water in the process. Smoothing out her floral print skirt, she casually nodded to the wealthy woman as a short form of greeting.
“How come it’s you? What happened to the others?”
“I want you to teach me how to make your monjayaki.” Ai persisted, taking another step closer as her hands tightly clutched the handle of her handbag. Frowning once again, she received a tempered glare in the direction of the bean. “You just have you make me admit that I’m wrong, don’t you?”
“Ehh??? Make you admit that you’re wrong?”
“This is my generosity. It doesn't mean that I’m admitting that I was wrong.”Now fully understanding the word’s of the heiress, the bean’s lips curved into an amused smile. “Ahh. I guess I could consider it.”
Feeling her patience running out, Ai turned on her heel as she began to stomp away. There was absolutely no way that the heiress and the low income chef could honestly get along. It was like mixing oil with water. Before she could get a step away though, the older woman could hear the bean’s voice calling out to her. “Why are you being so persistent when you’re the one in need?
Flashing a false smile, though it was clearly obvious that the girl was scowling, Ai marched back towards the bean, standing merely inches away from the slightly taller girl. On the inside, she knew that Risa was right. She knew that she was being persistent. She knew what had to be done.
“I’m sorry.”
Risa’s eyes hardened as she sensed the malice and sarcasm laced in her tone. Nonetheless, she was not prepared to go down so easily. Crossing her arms across her chest, the monjayaki chef leaned towards the girl, their faces only mere centimeters apart. “I thought you said you weren’t at fault? Why are you apologizing?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong! But for the one that I love most, I can only…” thinking for the moment, Ai rolled her eyes, feeling the disbelief of what she was about to do. Never in her life did she ever imagine herself in this situation. In this position of bowing her head down to someone inferior in comparison to herself. “…I can only beg for help.”
Not saying anything, the bean stood up straight once more, scanning the wealthy girl from head to toe. This…this was a different Takahashi Ai she was seeing today.
”Is it because her clothes are actually eye pleasing today? Or is it because of her change it attitude? Why do I suddenly want to say…” “No problem.”
Fully restored with hope, the heiress looked up with wide eyes, her expression plastered with a joyful smile. “You agree? You’ll do it?”
“Huh? Did I?” The bean blinked in confusion of the situation.
“You said ‘no problem’! That means you agree right?”
Her nose wrinkling as she pouted, Risa turned away, admiring on the bright blue color of the sky. “Saying stuff like ‘no problem’ doesn’t automatically mean that I agree!”
“What?” Ai advanced towards the bean once again, lightly slapping her on the front of her shoulder. Her eyes were only filled with bewilderment. “When a person says ‘I’m begging you’ and the other says ‘no problem’, then it usually means that the other person agreed to the request! You agreed!”
Scoffing at the girl, Risa turned around and marched back to her spot by the ledge as she began to pack her belongings. Stuffing her folder full of sheet music and lyrics into its proper place, the girl hoisted the backpack onto one of her shoulders as she used her other arm to lift her keyboard. “Why can’t I just say ‘no problem’ without having that meaning? Besides, you said ‘I’m sorry’, not ‘I’m begging.’ They mean completely different things you know.”
Following the monjayaki chef, Ai tightly clutched onto the handle, her knuckles turning as white as snow. “That didn’t even make sense? Why are you being like this!? I’ve already paid you know! No one else in that restaurant even knows how to properly make monjayaki! ”
“It’s your own fault! You gave the cash to Yoshizawa-san, not me.”
“Don’t be like this! At least help me out…”
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Standing by the entrance, Ai smiled proudly as she flipped the open sign to indicate that the restaurant was now close for a break. Taking small strides across the dining area, the heiress ambled to the table closest to the kitchen, where Risa, once again clad in her chef uniform, was powerfully mixing the batter with brute strength. Before she knew it, the lesson had begun. Everything flashed before her eyes as she attempted to record the steps down as detailed as possible. Does the better go first or the cabbage? What type of oil is the pan supposed to be greased with? Butter? Sesame oil?
“Monjayaki is a flavorful dish. All those stir fry and sauté techniques shown on TV have absolutely no use here. As the chef, you are responsible for making everything perfect.”
As Risa poured the rest of the batter liquid on top of the already spread cabbage pile, she used her free hand to begin grabbing other ingredients.
“Patience is virtue when cooking monjayaki. If you cook it on the highest heat possible, you’ll quickly end of with pieces of burnt food. If you keep mixing it, it will become mushy and unappealing both by sight and by taste. You must have an internalized clock.
Using her personal brightly colored pen, Ai wrote down each and every word her current “sensei” was saying, as well as writing down the physical aspect of the cooking lesson. Halfway into making the instructions, a pair of chopsticks was held in front of her.
“Your turn.”
Risa’s back was turned for only a split second before the aroma of burnt food filled her nostrils. Returning to Ai’s side with an armful of ingredients, the monkayaki chef’s left eye twitched as she observed the wealthy girl’s cooking skills. Not only did she just toss chopped cabbage into a puddle full of oil that was splattering on high heat, but she was using her hands to brush back her hair whilst touching other ingredients, thus contaminating them. Before the heiress could proceed, the bean slammed down the ingredients onto the bench, using a backup spatula to scrape away the burning cabbage.
“Here,” she simply stated, holding out a flesh colored rubber band. “Your hair.”
“No way! It damages the hair.” The heiress answered as she reached over for the oil once more. Her hand barely brushed the metal canister when Risa pulled her back, still dangling the rubber band in front of her face. Still refusing, Ai scowled at the chef, “Not even if I die.”
“What do you propose then?”
Without another word, Takahashi Ai grabbed the bean’s hands, ignoring the open mouth stare from the girl. Having a tight grasp on the pair of hands, Ai reached upwards and placed Risa’s hands onto the back of her head. “Hold it for me will ya?” she answered flatly in an unfamiliar accent before once again reaching for the oil.
A few more tries had gone by. Slowly but surely, the heiress was beginning to understand the concept of cooking and making monjayaki with the Niigaki flair. With her hands holding Ai’s hair in a twisted ponytail, Risa curiously stood on her tiptoes, peeking to make sure all was going well. That was all she could really do from where she was standing, besides pulling back any strands of hair that may become loose from the hold and dangle in front of Ai’s face as a potential distraction.
However, as the older woman’s cooking skills quickly improved from their original standpoint, the bean began to become bored. Once in a while, she’d peek over Ai’s shoulders to look for any mistakes, but there didn’t seem to be much if any. Still holding her bundle of hair, Risa pressed her button nose on Ai’s hair in order to take care of the small itch on her nose that had been bothering her. But, along with the sensation of relieving the itch, a sudden smell of strawberries filled her nostrils. Feeling a bit braver, Risa leaned in closer a second time, taking another gentle whiff of Ai’s hair. As she went for a third, the woman suddenly spun around, holding up a piece of completed monjayaki in her chopsticks.
“How’s this?” she asked, her tone filled with excitement.
As Risa lifted her hands to reach for the chopstick, Ai snatched back the food with a huff. Instead of giving the food to Risa like she originally intended, the heiress decided to try for her victory meal for herself. However, the outcome was quite what she expected. “Why does it taste so funny?” she questioned, her nose wrinkling as she took in the strange taste.
“You’re acting all prissy! Of course it’s going to taste funny! Once more from the top!” and the two returned to their original positions with Ai cooking and Risa holding her hair.
It wasn’t until towards the end of their lesson that the two actually sat down on both benches. Cautiously eyeing the food, the bean saw that there was nothing physically wrong with the food that she could see. Nor was the aroma strange. With a brave gulp, Risa grasped a piece of monjayaki and dropped it into her mouth. Slowly chewing and savoring the taste, she couldn’t help but smile at the nervous looking heiress.
“Not bad ojou-san. You’ve improved just a tad bit if anything.”
With a big smile, the heiress let out a quiet “Yes!” though she was clearly excited. Quickly grabbing her phone and purse, Ai sprinted towards the door, waving good bye. “See you tomorrow!”
“H-hold on! You want your monjayaki sensei to wash all of these dirty dishes?!”
“Thanks!” and with that, Ai was out the door.
“…no problem ojou.”
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Alone in her bedroom, Ai sat in front of her oversized vanity table, watching herself as she brushed through her drying locks of hair. After the long day of hunting down Risa, learning to cook monjayaki, and being with Miki for a few hours, it was nice to have a moment alone, though she knew LinLin, who was sitting in her own room, was just dying to play Final Fantasy XIII-2 as she waited for her best friend. The silence, for the first time in a long time, was refreshing.
Just as she was about to leave her room, the buzz of an incoming text message caught her attention. As she unlocked her iPhone and read the good night message from her girlfriend, Ai smiled as her fingers clutched onto the shirt she was currently wearing. Though it belonged to Miki, the heiress “borrowed” it from her lover’s home one day and decided not to return it. Even after the multiple washes, the smell of Miki’s perfume lingered on.
”The ones with the smell of perfume are caring, comfortable, warm-hearted, and just perfect.
But…the ones who smell of oil and batter…------------------------------------------------------------------
“It…It’s splashing! Do something!” Ai cried as she leaned away from the sizzling pan, though she continued to occasionally poke the burning cabbage and batter mixture with the short chopsticks. “Itai!”
Seeing the large amounts of oil splashing on the woman, Risa turned off the hot pan before grabbing the cringing heiress into the small bathroom.
“Really? This is a prime example of why you shouldn’t turn the heat all the way up. I told you at the beginning to not be afraid of the oil, or else it’ll come and find you!
Turning the cold water onto high blast, Risa forcefully rubbed the heiress’s hand and arm under the cooling sensation with the focus to prevent any permanent damages. Sniffling, Ai used her other hand to wipe away the tears that were beginning to fall.
“Does it hurt?” ------------------------------------------------------------------
“…the ones who smell of oil and batter are rough and wild, like the hot oil that hurt me.""No…I could never fall in love with an oil and batter-smelling girl.”
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Pon!~ I shall now end with a short note of I dunno when I'll update again
Hopefully soon cause Spring Break starts on March 17th~ No new characters -gasp- Well, bye bye for now and enjoy the remainder of Leap Day! (It's 11:52 PM as I type this
) Later!~ (^ - ^)/
Topic: Just Around the Corner {T a k a G a k i <3} [UPDATE!~ Ch. 4- 2/29] (Read 6399 times)